ive been doing about 2.5k - 3k / year ... for the past 2 years.
its been 3 days since i bought something...but almost 2 months B4 that...i cant seem to stay "on the wagon".
im a self diagnosed (and medicated

) hardware addict
now lets see Maxi or dumo's yearly budget estimates...
EDIT:
chaoticdonkey,
yes, if you want top 10 scores you need to spend some large cash but thats true with almost anything. think about this though; a rear wheel drive car almost always beats a front wheel drive car in a drag race, but that doesn't stop the FWD crowd from being competitive. -or- a F-1 race car will crush anything on the road, but auto-cross is alive and well. it all comes down to making it a "fair fight".
if it makes you feel any better, even @ my spending level, my rig isnt (really) competitive against SLI rigs...but among the single (ATi) card rigs, im *VERY* competitive.